60-Year Legacy Continues at Rosebrook ASH Stud

More than 60 years ago, Terry Blake took his first steps into the world of Australian Stock Horse breeding, not knowing that he would become a legend of the industry. His love of the Australian Stock Horse also drew him to the sport of polocrosse, where his horses were highly coveted by players and fellow breeders.

Known for their exceptional quality and temperament, Rosebrook horses became popular with polocrosse players, campdrafters, and pony clubs. Today, they can be found in every state of Australia, as well as internationally in New Zealand and the UK.

Terry was a foundation member of the Australian Stock Horse Society, a society classifier, and president of the Hunter branch for many years. Upon discovering a love for polocrosse, he went on to spend 55 years as the president of the Muswellbrook Polocrosse Club. Over those years he was also the Hunter zone president, NSW state president, NSW chief umpire, Australian chief umpire and an Australian selector. He has also coached Australian teams.

To further support the sport, he would donate horses to be sold as a fundraiser for travelling Australian teams. He loaned horses to competitions, including the 2007 World Cup, which was played on Australian soil. That year, Rosebrook Conchita was played by USA captain, Robbie Shuttles, and awarded Champion Men’s ASH in the division.

Terry Blake

Sadly, Terry passed away in 2016, leaving behind a legacy of champion horses known for their exceptional quality and temperament. Today, Colin and Louise Parkinson, who have been playing polocrosse on Rosebrook horses for over 30 years, run Terry’s Rosebrook Stud.

Colin and Louise have been involved in polocrosse for many years. Colin is the current president of Muswellbrook Polocrosse Club, and Louise is the secretary. Colin has played at several Nationals for NSW, coached many teams at Nationals and Barastoc, and is the Hunter Valley chief umpire and a deputy umpire for NSW. He has umpired at the UK World Cup, the 2016 Junior and Intermediate tour to South Africa and the test series between the Australians and South Africans at Warwick. He is involved in campdrafting and won the World Championship draft at Sydney Show in 2010, and remains involved with local drafts. He is also a classifier for the Australian Stock Horse Society.

Louise enjoys managing state teams, and training younger horses to pass onto her three children, Simon, Brandon and Brittany, all of whom have competed for Hunter Valley and NSW.

The Parkinson’s are currently preparing three Rosebrook mares for the Adina Polocrosse World Cup 2019, which is taking place in Warwick, Queensland in April.

“I was a horse coordinator at the 2003 and 2007 World Cups at Warwick, looking after the USA and the UK, and will be back again this year,” Colin said.

“This year is even more exciting for us as we will be carrying on Terry’s legacy and loaning horses to the event. Between Louise, the kids and I, we have been spending a lot of time riding them and getting them into peak match performance.”

“The Rosebrook bloodline has seen many champion horses, in both polocrosse and campdraft. It stems from Terry’s foundation mare, Rosebrook Cedar, which he purchased over 60 years ago. She had the beautiful front on her that Terry's horses became famous for. One of his neighbours had a stallion, Quarter Spade, which he bred to Cedar and produced the first of his two foundation stallions, Rosebrook Cedarwood. He then bred Cedar to a stallion that was going well in the campdraft ring. His name was Abbey. This cross produced Rosebrook Abou who was his second foundation stallion.”

“Rosebrook has had champions at the Sydney Royal polocrosse, the Australian Nationals, and Barastoc State Series, as well as places in campdrafting. We had 11 Rosebrook horses competing in the 2018 Australian Nationals in every age group and played division. The champion ladies horse was Rosebrook Diamonte, ridden by Lauren Sillitoe, who is on the 2019 Australian Polocrosse World Cup team.”

“We are honoured to continue breeding for the quality, performance and temperament that was so important to Terry,” he said.

Polocrosse is one of only three home-grown Australian sports, along with Aussie Rules football and campdraft. The 2019 Polocrosse World Cup takes place in Warwick, Queensland from 22 to 28 April and will attract 300 competitors from around the world, 2,000 international guests and 60,000 spectators, making it the largest international sporting event ever held in rural Australia.

A range of ticket options and event passes are available for purchase from the event website www.polocrosseworldcup.com.au